Yehoshua 3: River Jordan

Yehoshua 17: You Get What You Get and You Don't Get Upset

“The Josephites complained to Joshua, saying, ‘Why have you assigned as our portion a single allotment and a single district, seeing that we are a numerous people whom the LORD has blessed so greatly?’” (verse 14) (יהושע י״ז:י״ד: ״וַיְדַבְּרוּ בְּנֵי־יוֹסֵף אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר מַדּוּעַ נָתַתָּ לִּי נַחֲלָה גּוֹרָל אֶחָד וְחֶבֶל אֶחָד וַאֲנִי עַם־רָב עַד אֲשֶׁר עַד־כֹּה בֵּרַכַנִי ה׳״). Why did the Josephites complain? Who were the Josephites? Rashi explains that really only the tribe of Menashe complained. Back in Deuteronomy God told Moshe to assign portions of the land to each tribe by size (במדבר כ״ו:נ״ד: ״לָרַב תַּרְבֶּה נַחֲלָתוֹ וְלַמְעַט תַּמְעִיט נַחֲלָתוֹ אִישׁ לְפִי פְקֻדָיו יֻתַּן נַחֲלָתוֹ״). According to Rashi, that size was set based on the population in the wilderness. Ephraim’s population subsequently decreased, so the tribe received more land than population and had no reason to complain. Menashe, on the other hand, exploded. They gained the most number of people- over 20,000. They went to Joshua to complain because the original allotment was too small. The issue with Rashi is that if the areas were predetermined back in Deuteronomy, what was the point of the lottery? Radak infers from here that each tribe received the exact same land size in even slices. But his interpretation does not match the geographical layout of the assigned cities. Perhaps Menashe was concerned that their tribe would continue to increase exponentially. Therefore, while they received a large territory now, the land was not large enough for the future. Joshua answer in the next verse is a good example of his evolution as a leader. After the Israelites lost the first battle of Ai, Joshua fell on his face and prayed to God. God responded that it was not time to fall down and that Joshua should just go up and attack the city again (יהושע ז׳:י׳: ״וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ קֻם־לָךְ לָמָּה זֶּה אַתָּה נֹפֵל עַל־פָּנֶיךָ״). Joshua’s response to the Josephites is the same: “‘If you are a numerous people,’ Joshua answered them, ‘go up to the forest country and clear an area for yourselves there…’” (יהושע י״ז:ט״ו: ״וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אִם־עַם־רָב אַתָּה עֲלֵה לְךָ הַיְּעָרָה וּבֵרֵאתָ לְךָ שָׁם״). If you want more land, then go take it yourself! Why are you complaining to me. Joshua does not have patience for complainers when so much of the land was still unconquered. This practical answer, however, creates another- why could there have been a discontent between what Gd planned and how things played out? Perhaps the answer to this second question is continuation of the theme of the people taking ownership of their destiny in Israel. Joshua’s instruction to the tribes of Joseph is that God provided a set location, but did not restrict them to this area. If they want, they can go expand their territory on their. The same thing will happen later with King David and Solomon. This should not be seen as a slight on what God gave, but instead of fulfillment of God’s desire- that the people become a self-sufficient nation.

Yehoshua 16: One for All and All for One

Judah was the first tribe in the lottery and Joseph is the second. This continues the trend of setting up these two tribes as conflicting leaders of the nation. In this very brief chapter there are two interesting points. The first is that Menashe is not referred to as half the tribe of Menashe here, even though this is referring to the half in Canaan and Moshe constantly referred to the half in the Transjordan as “half the tribe of Menashe”. The second is that Ephraim had some cities designated within the territory of Menashe. Both of these may be linked. Reuven and Gad approached Moshe to live on the other side of the Jordan, and Moshe also allocated some of that land to half the tribe of Manasseh in order to link the outer tribes with those in the land itself. That only works if the tribe of Menashe is still considered one tribe. This is probably why Joshua keeps Menashe whole here. The idea is that inside the land, Menashe is part of the larger Menashe tribe and should not be considered separate. Ephraim’s cities also serve the same function. Just like Moshe linked the outer tribes to the inner ones with Menashe, the lottery connects Ephraim to his brother Menashe with overlapping cities. In this way the tribe of Yosef- although split into three, is linked together as one unifying the tribes of Yosef as a counter weight to the tribe of Judah.

Yehoshua 15: Previewing the Spin Off

When a TV show or movie becomes very popular, the creators like to spin off to a companion series borrowing some secondary character from the main feature. Perhaps Hollywood got the idea from Joshua chapter 15. Chapter 15 begins the rather dry section of the Book of Joshua that demarcates the various boundaries of the different tribes. Imbedded in chapter 15 is a spinoff preview of the first chapter of the next book- Judges. Calev reappeared in chapter 14 requesting Joshua fulfill Moshe’s promise to give him Hebron (יהושע י״ד:ו–י״ב: ״וַיִּגְּשׁוּ בְּנֵי־יְהוּדָה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בַּגִּלְגָּל וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כָּלֵב בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּה הַקְּנִזִּי… וְעַתָּה תְּנָה־לִּי אֶת־הָהָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה׳ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא… כִּי אַתָּה שָׁמַעְתָּ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כִּי עֲנָקִים שָׁם… אוּלַי ה׳ אוֹתִי וְהוֹרַשְׁתִּים כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה׳״). At the end of chapter 15 the Navi tells the story of Calev’s conquest of Hebron and his promise to Otniel to give him his daughter as a wife if he can help complete the conquest (יהושע ט״ו:י״ד–י״ט: ״וַיֹּרֶשׁ מִשָּׁם כָּלֵב אֶת־שְׁלֹשָׁה בְּנֵי הָעֲנָק… וַיֹּאמֶר כָּלֵב אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּה אֶת־קִרְיַת סֵפֶר וּלְכָדָהּ וְנָתַתִּי לוֹ אֶת־עַכְסָה בִתִּי לְאִשָּׁה. וַיִּלְכְּדָהּ עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן־קְנַז… וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ אֶת־עַכְסָה בִתּוֹ לְאִשָּׁה״). This story is repeated at the begging of Shoftim, which leads to the obvious question: Is this story repeated here in Joshua or is it repeated there in Shoftim? Rashi explains that this whole story only happened after Joshua died. The book of Judges notes that Hebron was not captured during Joshua’s lifetime (שופטים א׳:י–ט״ו: ״וַיֵּלֶךְ יְהוּדָה אֶל־הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַיּוֹשֵׁב בְּחֶבְרוֹן… וַיֹּאמֶר כָּלֵב אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּה אֶת־קִרְיַת סֵפֶר וּלְכָדָהּ וְנָתַתִּי לוֹ אֶת־עַכְסָה בִתִּי לְאִשָּׁה״). The Navi lists the story of Calev here because it is related to Yehuda’s conquests and perhaps also to the previous chapter discussing Calev’s request. The Malbim has the opposite opinion. He explains that this story did happen during Joshua’s lifetime. The story is repeated in the book of Judges because Calev was the leader of the tribe of Judah, and so it fits with the theme of the post Joshua balkanization of the Israelites. The Talmud in Bava Batra 15a declares that Joshua wrote the book of Joshua (בבא בתרא ט״ו ע״א: ״יהושע כתב ספרו ושמונה פסוקים שבתורה״). There is a dispute about the end of the book, as, just like with Moshe end of the Torah, it mentions that Joshua dies. How could Joshua write that. The answer is that Joshua wrote the whole book except for the very end. The Talmud does not say anything about the Calev story being of questionable authorship. The Talmud must believe that Joshua wrote story of Calev. Based on the structure of Judges, it makes sense that this story happened in the book of Joshua. Judges is a hodgepodge of various stories about leaders in various tribes. The fact that one of these stories is taken from another book is not odd. Megillah of Ruth is another example of a story that takes places during the period of the Judges that is also not contained in the book, so there is precedent for Judges time period stories to appear outside the book.

Yehoshua 14: The Canaanites are coming! The Canaanites are coming!

“The British are coming!” Paul Revere yelled as recorded in the famous Longfellow poem. “Paul Revere’s Ride” But Revere did not ride alone and Revere did not actually finish the ride. Samuel Prescott, a fellow midnight rider, was able to evade British patrols and complete the journey to warn the colonists up the countryside. Despite a more successful ride, Revere gets all the praise. Besides, the opening of the poem ““Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere” would be much more difficult if Longfellow had to find a rhyme for “Prescott”. Back in Numbers, when the spies returned with their distorted report only two men stood up to the mob—Joshua and Calev. In fact, it was Calev that really did most of the talking. “Caleb hushed the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it’” (Numbers 13:30). וַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת־הָעָם אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ כִּי־יָכוֹל נוּכַל לָהּ (Numbers 13:30) Shelach clearly prioritizes Calev and glorifies his behavior. He is presented as more willing to confront the people and stand up to them. In Joshua’s defense, perhaps Joshua was nervous to speak up in front of his teacher, but Calev had no such qualms. Joshua only joined Calev after Calev spoke up the first time. Calev and Joshua are forever linked thereafter as the only two who survive the forty year sojourn. Joshua becomes the leader of the people, but except for a few repetitions of the spy story, Calev disappears from the story until now. The tribe of Yehudah accompanies Calev to petition Joshua for Hebron. The commentators link this to a verse in the beginning of Deuteronomy for this promise: “none except Caleb…to him and his descendants will I give the land on which he set foot, because he remained loyal to God.” (Deuteronomy 1:36). זוּלָתִי כָּלֵב בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּה הוּא יִרְאֶנָּה וְלוֹ אֶתֵּן אֶת־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר דָּרַךְ בָּהּ וּלְבָנָיו יַעַן אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּא אַחֲרֵי ה׳ (Deuteronomy 1:36) The “land on which he set foot” is then linked to Hebron via this verse: “They went up into the Negeb and he came to Hebron…” (Numbers 13:22). וַיַּעֲלוּ בַנֶּגֶב וַיָּבֹא עַד־חֶבְרוֹן (Numbers 13:22) The verse begins in the plural referring to all the spies, but continues in the singular. The commentators extrapolate that only Calev went to Hebron—either because he was not afraid of the warrior inhabitants, or because he prayed at the Cave of the Patriarchs. This midrash again shows Calev’s initiative without Joshua. Calev is the singular person who went there, which means Joshua did not go either. Perhaps Calev is a little salty here that not only has Joshua gotten all the praise, but he also seems to have forgotten the promise made to his fellow spy. He needles Joshua a little more: “I am still as strong today as on the day that Moses sent me; my strength is the same now as it was then, for battle and for activity.” (verse 11). עוֹדֶנִּי הַיּוֹם חָזָק כַּאֲשֶׁר בְּיוֹם שְׁלֹחַ אֹתִי מֹשֶׁה כַּאֲשֶׁר כֹּחִי אָז וְכֹחִי עָתָּה לַמִּלְחָמָה וְלָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא (Joshua 14:11) This sounds like the description given to Moshe at the end of his life and very different from the one given to Joshua at the start of chapter 13. Joshua must have understood the slight and decides to do more than just assign the land: “So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and assigned Hebron to him as his portion.” וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיִּתֵּן אֶת־חֶבְרוֹן לְכָלֵב בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּה לְנַחֲלָה (Joshua 14:13) Joshua’s blessing is a way to right this wrong and give Calev the respect he deserves.

Yehoshua 13: Advanced Age

“Joshua was now old, advanced in years. The LORD said to him, “You have grown old, you are advanced in years; and very much of the land still remains to be taken possession of” (Verse 1). The end of last chapter ended on a positive note with the list of defeated kings. Chapter 13 opens with a very different message. God is upset that the people have not conquered more land. Joshua is described as “grown old and advanced in years.” This phrase has been used to describe two other people- Avraham and Sarah. “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years; Sarah had stopped menstruating” (Genesis 18:11) and “Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and God blessed with everything” (Genesis 24:1). The first verse is when Avraham and Sarah are told that they will have a child- Yitzchak. The second verse is right before Avraham sends Eliezer to go find a wife for Yitzchak. The first verse is all about Sarah and Avraham not believing that God could provide them with a child because they were so old. And yet, God did provide. Joshua may have thought that he could not conquer the land anymore because he was getting older, but by describing him the same way God described Avraham and Sarah, God sent the message that anything was still possible. The second verse described Avraham’s concern that his legacy would not be complete before he died. He had a son, but needed to know that his son had a wife to continue the family. Here too, Joshua is nearing death. He charge was to conquer the land that God gave to Avraham. After hundreds of years, these promises are about to be a reality. God is reminding Joshua that Avraham did not give up on the fulfillment of his legacy even after he was getting old. So too Joshua needs to redouble his efforts to secure his, and Avraham’s, legacy no matter his age.